


Claimed

by arianapeterson19



Series: Avengers Shorts [39]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adoption, Car Accidents, Cuddling & Snuggling, Kid Tony Stark, M/M, Nightmares, Orphanage, Past Character Death, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Phil Coulson, Tony Feels, Tony Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Has Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-08
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-05-31 22:54:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6490585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arianapeterson19/pseuds/arianapeterson19
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They had been searching for years, looking forward to the moment when they would finally find that perfect one, the child to join their forever family. They just didn't expect him to be so...different.</p><p>OR</p><p>The one where Tony finds his forever family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Found

The orphanage was packed with children of all ages, from teenagers to tiny babies, and also with perspective parents who were touring and interviewing, having jumped through the hoops to get to that point. Clint looked around a bit uneasily while his husband Phil stood next to him, as stoic as ever.

“How are we supposed to know which one is supposed to be ours?” asked Clint, jumping out of the way as three girls ran by shrieking in glee as they chased each other around the room.

“We are supposed to be taking this time to get to know them,” said Phil. “We won’t know who we will adopt right away, we actually need to get to know them first.”

“Okay,” said Clint. “So, divide and conquer?”

Before Phil could protest, Clint had wandered off into the crowds, leaving Phil standing alone in the hall. Rather than look like a creepy, unapproachable adult, Phil headed to one of the play rooms. He quietly sat down on one of the smaller chairs and tried to think of how to approach the children who kept moving around. It was going to be impossible.

“Tommy would be a good choice,” said a small voice near Phil’s elbow.

Phil looked down to see a little boy about 5 years old settling down next to him with paper and a black pen. The kid had a messy mop of brown hair and didn’t bother looking at Phil as he set to work.

“Which one is Tommy?” asked Phil, unsure of what else to say.

“He’s seven years old, the one with the blonde hair and blue eyes who looks like Captain America only smaller,” replied the kid, still not looking up from his paper. “He’s pretty nice. Fast. Like’s sports. Your husband looks like he’s a sport guy.”

“What’s your name?” asked Phil.

“I’m Anthony but everyone calls me Tony,” replied the boy. 

“How old are you?” asked Phil. 

“I’m five. I’m difficult, that’s why people keep returning me. Tommy’s not difficult, though. Neither is Henry. Or if you’re looking for a girl you could go for Nancy. Oh, or Marie! Marie is nice. And she can jump rope a hundred times without messing up.”

“That’s very nice.”

Tony nodded and continued drawing, humming to himself. Phil talked to a few of the other children and even went to the rug to help some of them put together a puzzle. By the time he was finished, Tony had moved away from the table and disappeared.

“Hey short stuff,” said Clint, plopping down next to Tony who had moved to sit on the porch outside after Phil had gone to help Sophia and Ryan with the puzzle. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” said Tony with a shrug. 

“Why aren’t you playing with the other kids out there?” asked Clint, nodding his head towards the basketball game going on between all ages.

“I knew you were a sports guy,” said Tony with a grin. “I told your husband that you would like Tommy because he’s good at sports.”

“Oh, you met my husband Phil?”

“Yes. He looked a little scared of the kids, so I sat next to him and gave him some ideas of who to talk to first. He’s less scared now and helping Sophia and Ryan with a puzzle.”

“I see.”

“Yup.”

They sat in silence for a time. 

“So,” said Clint, shifting awkwardly in his spot. “Do you want to get adopted?”

Instantly Clint cringed – of course the kid wanted to get adopted, every kid wanted to get adopted. He had wanted to get adopted but hadn’t been which was why he was so intent on adopting kids with Phil.

“No thank you,” said Tony simply, breaking Clint’s thoughts. 

“Why not?”

“Because I’m difficult,” said Tony as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “That’s why people keep returning me. They never return the other kids. I’ve already been returned six times. Now I help parents find kids they will want to keep forever.”

Clint was going to say something, reassure the poor kid that he would find his forever family someday, but at that moment Phil stepped out of the back door.

“There you are,” said Phil, spotting Clint sitting with Tony. “Ah, I see you met Tony. Hi Tony, remember me?”

“Yes, Phil,” said Tony, rolling his little eyes. “Did you talk to Tommy yet? He’s really nice.” 

“Yes, I talked to him,” said Phil. “Now Tony, do you mind if I steal Clint away for a minute? I need to talk to him privately.”

“Okay,” said Tony. “Have fun.”

With that, the five year old got up and wandered back into the house. Phil sat down next to Clint and together they looked out at the games being played in the yard by the children.

“I spoke with the director,” said Phil. “I’ve already set up a time to come back and meet with some of the kids again. I talked to that Tommy boy that Tony suggested. Sweet kid. Have you met him?”

“I want Tony,” said Clint.

“Oh thank goodness,” said Phil with a smile. “I do too, I just didn’t want to push the issue. We just started looking, after all.”

“Yes, but that one is ours,” said Clint. “The only problem is that Tony doesn’t want to be adopted. He told me.”

“We’ll talk to the director, find out his story,” said Phil reassuringly. “It’s a long process, maybe we can convince Tony to be a part of our family.”

Together Phil and Clint sought out the director of the orphanage. He was a an older man with less hair than he started life with and a kind smile.

“So, Mr. Coulson, Mr. Barton, what can I do for you?” asked Humphrey Elliot, settling in behind his desk. “From my understanding you already set up an appointment to come back next week to speak with a few of the children, get to know them on a deeper level.”

“Yes, but we actually have a specific child in mind already,” said Phil.

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” said Mr. Elliot. “As you can tell, we are already well over our limit of children but times are hard and right now everyone is more interested in adopting overseas than here. This will make the process much quicker. So who is the child?”

“What can you tell us about Tony?” asked Clint, leaning forward eagerly. “He’s the little five year old with brown hair.”

“Yes, Tony,” said Mr. Elliot, his face falling. “Tony has had a difficult time. His biological parents died in a car accident when he was three. Tony was trapped with their bodies in the car for four days before they were found. Because of that, Tony tends to have nightmare, panic attacks, and separation anxiety when he starts to care about someone. He is also far above his level intelligence wise. It scares off a lot of people. Several couples have tried taking him home but found it too much of a challenge.”

“Poor guy,” sighed Clint, turning to Phil with his puppy dog eyes. “Phil, we have to adopt him.”

“Mr. Elliot, would it be possible for us to move our appointment up to tomorrow?” asked Phil. “We would really like to get to know Tony better.”

“I don’t know,” said Mr. Elliot slowly. “I don’t want to put Tony through more heartbreak.”

“Please,” said Clint quietly. “Trust me, I know how it is. I was in the foster system from the time I was thirteen until I came of age. We are not taking this lightly. We won’t mention adoption to Tony yet. We just want to get to know him, spend more time with him. And if it does work out, if everything comes through and Tony ends up liking us too, then we will tell him. Please, give us a chance.”

“Okay,” said Mr. Elliot with a small smile. “But be careful. Tony is adorable but he is also a handful.”

“Trust me, Mr. Elliot,” said Phil, eying his husband with a rueful grin. “We’re prepared for that.”

\- Claimed - 

The next day, Tony was surprised to find Clint and Phil waiting for him in the living room when Mr. Elliot brought him in.

“Tony, you remember Mr. Barton and Mr. Coulson, right?” said Mr. Elliot. “You met them yesterday.”

“I know,” said Tony. 

“Well, they came back today because they wanted to hang out with you more,” said Mr. Elliot. “Why don’t you show them your drawings?”

Tony mumbled something and walked over to the big desk in the corner that had boxes piled under it. The kid pulled out a slim box and sat on the floor, waiting for Clint and Phil to join him while Mr. Elliot watched from the corner.

“What have you got there?” asked Phil, settling on the ground next to Tony.

“It’s a robot,” said Tony, holding it out for Phil to inspect. “I’m going to build him when I’m older.”

“You like to build things?” said Clint.

“Yes,” said Tony. “Look, I know what you’re trying to do. I already told you, I don’t want to get adopted.”

“Okay, so why don’t we just hang out instead?” suggested Clint. “It’ll be fun. Look, we can build with these Legos! I’m pretty good at building things.”

“I’m probably better,” said Tony with a little gleam in his eyes.

They started building next to each other while Phil watched.

For several more weeks, Clint and Phil showed up at least three times a week to visit with Tony. Their outings progressed to going to the nearby park and even to a movie. Eventually, Tony started looking forward to their visits and had to hide his sadness when the two men left.

“Hey kiddo,” said Clint, waltzing into the living room, grinning when he spotted Tony sitting on the couch, swinging his little legs.

“Hi Clint,” yawned Tony.

“What’s up, buddy?” said Clint, concerned, sitting next to the exhausted kid. “You sleep well?”

Tony shook his head. 

“I’m sorry,” said Clint. “Nightmares?”

Tony nodded, his lower lip trembling and he brought his legs up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them.

“I don’t want you and Phil to leave again,” whispered Tony. “Please stop leaving me.”

“Oh sweetie,” said Clint, gathering Tony into his arms and holding the kid close. “Honey, we don’t want to leave you. We want you to come home with us and live with us forever.”

“Really?” said Tony, looking up at Clint.

“Yes,” said Phil, joining them on the couch with a bunch of papers, Mr. Elliot following them with a suitcase. “Tony, would you like Clint and me to adopt you?”

“Promise you won’t return me?” said Tony, looking scared and hopeful at the same time.

“Promise.”

“Okay,” said Tony. “Please don’t leave me alone.”

Clint and Phil folded around Tony as the five year old began to cry tears of exhaustion and happiness while Clint and Phil cried their own tears of joy at finally having a child of their own.


	2. Home

Their first obstacle was the car. They had always walked on their outings before, so when they approached the car and Mr. Elliot had gone back inside after placing Tony’s suitcase in the trunk of the car, Clint and Phil found out that Tony was not a fan of cars.

“Alright, kiddo,” said Clint, opening the back door that already had a booster seat in the middle for Tony. “Let’s go home.”

Tony eyed the car with misgiving and slowly climbed in. He was fine when he sat down and buckled in, he was fine when Clint shut the door, and he was fine when Clint and Phil opened the front doors. But when the adults sat down and shut their doors, Tony began to panic.

“No,” whimpered Tony, shaking his head and bringing his knees to his chest. “No.”

“What’s wrong, Tony?” asked Phil, concerned, turning around in the drivers seat to face the trembling kid.

“I don’t want to be stuck again,” whispered Tony, his breathing picking up. “It happened last time. I don’t want that.”

“Shit, I think he means the car accident that killed his parents,” said Clint softly. “What do we do?”

“You ride in the back with him,” suggested Phil. “Talk to him, distract him. I’m sure in the accident both his parents were in the front, it might be less scary if one of us is in the back.”

Clint nodded and quickly crawled over the seat and into the back. He set a reassuring hand on Tony’s shoulder and started talking to the boy.

“Hey Tones,” said Clint. “Can you look at me? Please?”

Tony peeped his eyes up from between his arms and stared at Clint with watery eyes. Clint smiled down at him, his heart breaking at the way the kid shook with fear.

“We haven’t talked about what you are going to call Phil and me,” said Clint, mentioning the first thing that came to mind. “You can call us Clint and Phil if that’s more comfortable for you right now but I think in the future we’d like it if you could call us Dad and Papa. What do you think?”

“You have to keep me first,” said Tony, not uncurling from his position but leaning into Clint’s touch while Phil carefully drove them home. “No one keeps me long enough to get a name.”

“I know,” said Clint sadly. “But I promise Phil and I are going to keep you forever. And it’s okay if you don’t believe us right now, we can prove it to you. So Tony, what do you think about dogs?”

“Dogs?”

“Yeah, dogs. What do you think about having a dog?”

“I’ve never had a pet before.”

“Well we are going to fix that. Phil and I have a dog. His name is Hulk. He’s pretty big but very nice, so you don’t need to be afraid of him.”

By the time they arrived at the apartment in the city, Tony was much calmer, though still very eager to get out of the car. Clint carried in the suitcase while Tony walked between him and Phil. They lived on the fifth floor and the elevator was perpetually broken so they had to take the stairs. It was an older building with creaks and groans but it was warm and didn’t have any alarming smells, so Tony decided he like the place.

“Welcome home, Tony,” said Clint as he threw open the door to their apartment.

Tony stepped inside hesitantly, looking around the living room. It was a comfortable size, the couch a soft grey with several deep purple chairs around it. The floors were hardwood and had area rugs strewn about. The kitchen was separated from the living room by a dining table and island with chairs around it. Off to the side was a small hall that had three doors, one to the bathroom and two facing each other.

“Tony, would you like to see your room?” asked Phil.

“Yes please,” said Tony softly, not sure what he was supposed to say.

The room itself wasn’t large. It had a bed with a blue bedspread in the corner opposite the window, a desk already filled with paper, and a bookshelf with books. Tony wandered around, poking various objects, then turned back to Phil and Clint, who were waiting anxiously to see his reaction.

“Thank you,” said Tony simply. “It’s very nice.”

Phil and Clint knew that Tony was trying to save himself from more heartbreak by not getting comfortable in the new setting while he waited for the other shoe to drop. They would fix it, together they would make Tony see they were in it for the long haul. But they couldn’t just force a kid who had been through so much to see that.

“Our room is the one across the hall,” said Phil. “Hulk is in there. Would you like meet him?”

Tony nodded and Clint went over to get the dog. Tony followed Phil into the living room and they waited as Clint came out with his hand firmly on a dog that was slightly larger than a Saint Bernard with the coloring of a black lab – or bear. Tony took half a step behind Phil, venturing to peer out from behind the older man’s legs when Hulk did no more than wag his tail. Clint sat on the ground with a firm hand on Hulk and just waited, allowing Tony time to decide what he wanted to do.

“Hi Hulk,” said Tony shyly, inching forward and holding out his little hand to the massive dog. “I’m Tony.”

Hulk sniffed at the offered hand and wagged his tail with a huff. Clint eased his hand off of the collar and allowed Hulk to step near the child. Tony giggled when Hulk licked his cheek and started petting the dog excitedly. Clint stepped back and leaned against Phil as they watched Tony and Hulk interact. In the space of a few minutes Tony had come out of the shell he had put himself in and back to the boy they had met at the orphanage.

“We’re going to figure this out,” said Phil, kissing the side of Clint’s head while Tony chased Hulk around the living room, giggling like mad.

When it was time for bed, Tony changed into his pajamas and got under the covers of his new bed. Clint read him a story while Phil listened with Tony, then they turned out the light, shut the door most of the way, and went to their own bedroom. Hulk was sleeping in front of the door to the apartment like usual. It was still too early for Clint and Phil to go to sleep, so instead they decided to just sit on the bed and talk.

“So we have a son,” said Clint, settling back on top of the blankets. “Tony is ours.”

“You’re a child,” laughed Phil. “But yes, Tony is ours. So now we need to decide how to handle work. This all happened a bit faster than I expected so I hadn’t put too much thought of how it would work but since we both have to travel so much we need to figure out how to handle it.”

“I’ve spoken with Fury,” said Clint, looking particularly proud of himself for having thought so far ahead. “I arranged for a few days off for both of us and we can work out the rest as it comes. Steve has already offered to help out if something comes up.”

“Well aren’t you just on top of things?” teased Phil.

“I learned from the best.”

For a time the two were silent, Phil leaning against the headboard of their king sized bed, reading a book, Clint sprawled over the top of the blankets, staring at the ceiling. They had been together for almost nine years, met through work, and were comfortable with simply being in the same room, not needing to fill the silence with words. Many evenings had been spent with Phil reading and Clint playing video games or some variation of that. They enjoyed the quiet nights.

A scream came through their open door from the hall.

“Shit,” cursed Clint, rolling out of bed and running into Tony’s room before he had really processed what was happening, Phil on his heels.

When the light snapped on they saw Tony thrashing in bed, screaming out in the midst of a nightmare. 

“Tony, honey wake up,” said Phil, sitting on the edge of the bed and shaking the boy’s shoulder. “Baby please, it’s just a nightmare, you’re safe. Wake up, come on Tony, you can do it.”

“No!” screamed Tony, sitting up suddenly, eyes flying open as he tore his way out of the nightmare.

“You’re okay, Tony,” said Phil soothingly as the young boy looked around the room, disoriented, until his eyes fell on Phil sitting just half a foot from him.

Tony blinked once, recognized Phil, and threw himself at the older male, sobbing into the soft sleep shirt. Phil easily picked Tony up and started pacing around the room, rocking the boy to help calm him as he signed to Clint to go to the kitchen and get something warm to drink.

“Baby, it’s okay,” said Phil in a hushed voice as Tony quieted. “You’re safe, I’ve got you. You’re okay, nothing bad is going to happen.”

“Sorry,” mumbled Tony, sniffing away his tears while he still clung to Phil, unwilling to be separated after his nightmare. “I’m sorry. Please don’t return me, I’ll be good, I promise.”

“Oh, honey, no,” said Phil, wandering out of the bedroom and into the living room where Clint was setting a sippy cup of warm milk on the coffee table next to two mugs of tea. “No, you’re okay. If you have a bad I dream Clint and I want you to come get us. We don’t mind at all. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

Tony refused to let Phil set him on the couch, so they ended up with Clint sitting next to Phil on the couch and Tony sitting on Phil’s lap, one hand holding the sippy cup, the other clutching Phil’s shirt in fear that the man would step away. Clint turned on a movie with singing dogs and an orange cat but Tony didn’t pay much attention, his eyes drooping in exhaustion. By the end of the movie the kid had fallen asleep again but somehow maintained his firm grip on Phil’s shirt even in sleep.

“You go to bed,” yawned Phil after Clint had put away the cups. “I’ll just stay here on the couch with Tony.”

“You sure?” whispered Clint.

“Yeah, it’ll be fine. He just fell asleep, I don’t want to risk waking him.”

“Okay. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Phil watched his husband enter their bedroom, leaving the door open, before settling back on the couch with Tony on his chest, sleeping. Clint had put in another movie, this one about dinosaurs, hoping the background noise would help Tony sleep, but otherwise the room was dark and Phil easily fell asleep. That was how Clint found them early the next morning, Phil with one arm dangling off the side of the couch, snoring softly, Tony curled up on his chest, his little head resting over Phil’s heart, partially covered by a scarlet blanket.

Tony blinked his eye open and saw Clint smiling down at him.

“Hey kiddo,” whispered Clint, crouching next to the couch. “Want to help me make breakfast?”

Tony yawned and nodded, not quite awake enough to have a real opinion on the matter. Passively he allowed Clint to pick him up off of Phil’s chest and carry him into the kitchen where the coffee was already brewing. With on hand Clint pulled a chair over to the counter for Tony to stand on while the other arm held the sleepy boy close.

“Which one is the Daddy and which is the Papa?” asked Tony when Clint set him on the chair.

“What?” said Clint, surprised by the question.

“Well, yesterday you said I can call you and Phil whatever I want but eventually you want me to call you guys Daddy and Papa,” explained Tony as though he were explaining something to a slow child. “So which one is which?”

“I guess we hadn’t really discussed it yet,” said Clint, wrinkling his nose in thought while he took out a bowl for eggs and pancake mix. 

“Well you look like a Daddy,” said Tony decidedly. “And Phil should be the Papa because Phil starts with a p and so does Papa.”

“Can’t argue with solid logic like that,” laughed Clint. “Is that what you’ve decided to call us, then?”

“We’ll see,” said Tony. “You made it past the first night and don’t seem like you’re going to take me back, so that’s a good thing.”

“I agree,” said Clint. “And you made it through the first night and don’t seem like you want to go back, so that’s a good thing.”

Tony paused, tilting his head in confusion at that comment. “What does that mean?” asked the kid, looking up at Clint with his eyes scrunched in thought.

“You have a choice in this too, Tony,” explained Clint. “We’ve already signed the papers, legally you are our kid now. But we wouldn’t have brought you home with us if you didn’t want us to in the first place. No matter how much we love you, we wouldn’t force you to be our kid.”

“Oh.”

Clint helped Tony whisk the eggs together before stepping back to start on the bacon.

“What’s my new last name?” asked Tony.

“Coulson.”

“That’s a big jump. It used to be Stark and s is the 19th letter in the alphabet but Coulson starts with a c and that’s only the third letter. Why isn’t your last name Coulson if you’re married to Phil? Don’t you want to share a name with him so everyone knows he’s yours?”

“My last name is Coulson,” said Clint.

“Then why did Mr. Elliot call you Mr. Barton?”

“Because that’s my work name and I guess I just forgot to give him my personal name.”

“Why does your work name have to be different?”

“It’s just the name I started my career with. When I married Phil it seemed silly to change it since everyone already called me Barton.”

“Oh.”

Tony watched Clint pour the eggs into a pan on the stove, his brown eyes taking in everything, filing it away for later.

“What do you want to do today?” asked Clint when the eggs were underway and he was working on his third cup of coffee.

“Can we take Hulk on a walk?” asked Tony excitedly.

“Sure,” said Clint. “Now, why don’t you go wake Phil up and tell him you helped make breakfast?”

Tony jumped off of the chair and ran into the living room.

“Phil!” yelled Tony as he ran. “Phil, you gotta wake up! Clint says we can take Hulk on a walk today and we gotta eat breakfast and I helped make it!”

“Hm?” hummed Phil, yawning and stretching while Tony tugged on his shirt. 

“Also Clint said that you and him didn’t know who was the Daddy and who was the Papa and I said that Clint looks like a Daddy and your name starts with p and so does Papa so you should be the Papa and Clint said that was fine. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, that sounds great, Tony,” said Phil with a smile, following the child into the kitchen and accepting a mug of steaming coffee and a kiss from his husband.

“Okay, you can kiss later, we have to eat now so we can take Hulk out!” said Tony, climbing on a chair to show his readiness for the eating to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .....I did the thing where I got way too attached and wrote way more than I needed and then realized I needed a 3rd chapter. And maybe an entire series dedicated to this because I just really like adopted Tony....
> 
> Also if you want to help me do the tumblr thing, I'm on tumblr with the same username as here. Not much is there right now because I'm still learning how to do the thing, but hopefully more will happen.
> 
> Always,  
> Ari


	3. Together

The best thing about Hulk was that he was a trained therapy dog. Phil had spent years helping train dogs for vetrans as well police dogs. After a particularly bad mission, Phil pulled some strings and got Hulk for Clint. Now it seemed that Hulk would come in handy for Tony too, and luckily the dog had taken a liking to the boy.

“Grab the vest,” said Phil, as he helped Tony find his shoes. “It’s by the door.”

“I know,” said Clint from the living room. “That’s where we keep it.”

“Why do you keep a vest by the door?” asked Tony, wriggling on his shoes while he sat on the bed.

“It’s for Hulk,” said Phil. 

“Why does Hulk need a vest? Are you blind? Is he a seeing eye dog? Does he get cold? Is that why he has a vest?”

“He’s a therapy dog,” said Phil. “Go on, tie your shoes, then we can go.”

“I can’t tie my shoes,” said Tony, swinging his feet. “No one ever taught me. The bigger kids were always busy and so were the caretakers. And anyone who tried to adopt me didn’t keep me long enough to teach me.”

“Alright, we can work on learning to tie them later,” said Phil, crouching down and grabbing a swinging foot. “I’ll tie them now.”

“What’s a therapy dog?”

“Well, in Hulk’s case he is a dog that is trained to help people crowds, people who went through something really scary or hard. Hulk is trained to recognize when a person is getting scared and he helps them not get scared.”

“That’s so cool,” said Tony. “Why is he with you? Did you something scary? Or did Clint? Is that why you have Hulk?”

“Yes,” said Phil, helping Tony off the bed and walking into the living room. “So, are you ready to go on a walk?”

“Yes!” yelled Tony, running to Clint, who was holding the leash already clipped on Hulk. “Where are we going?”

“I thought we would go to the park,” said Clint. “Do you want to hold the leash?”

“Yes!”

Clint had slipped on Hulk’s vest so when they headed out, he didn’t pull Tony down. The dog stayed obediently next to the kid; Phil had trained Hulk to respond to both Clint and himself and the dog had seemed to adopt the kid already, so Hulk was willing to patiently walk as fast as Tony’s little legs could carry him.

Clint and Phil showed Tony to the dog park nearby. They took off Hulk’s vest and sat on the bench while Tony chased Hulk around, other dogs and owners playing in the same area.

“Hulk likes him,” commented Clint, leaning against Phil on the bench as they watched their dog and new son play. 

“I think we need to get Tony to see Bruce,” said Phil. “After all the things the poor kid has been through, we really need to get him some professional help.”

“Bruce doesn’t work with kids,” said Clint. “Shouldn’t we get a child psychologist or something?”

“Something tells me Tony would like Bruce more. He’s a smart kid, he’s going to be a challenge and since he already has so many attachment issues I think it would be easier on him if we got him a psychologist that he can grow with instead of one who will only meet his emotional needs for a while. Think about it, Tony is going to have challenges because he is so smart, he needs someone who can help relate to him on that level too.”

“You’re right,” sighed Clint. “I know you’re right. I just, I don’t want to screw this up, you know? I don’t want t be those parents who completely ruin their kid.”

“We’re going to make mistakes. It’s just going to happen but we are also going to provide a stable, loving environment for this little boy, a permanent home, something he didn’t have before.”

Together they gazed out the park where Tony was busy on the edge playing fetch with Hulk. Tony wasn’t interacting with any of the other adults and children but he wasn’t shying away from them either and he seemed to be having a good time, which was the goal.

A man caught Clint’s eye. He was making his way around the edge of the fence holding a leash but with no dog in sight. He wasn’t canning the area as though looking for a dog, though. His eyes were fixed on Tony and the man was making his way there. Clint nudged Phil and tilted his head slightly in the direction of the man before getting up and meandering right to Tony.

“Hey kiddo,” said Clint, reaching Tony just as the other man did. “What do you think about grabbing Hulk and taking him with us to get some lunch?”

“Okay,” said Tony. “Hulk! Come here boy!”

“May I help you?” said Phil politely from directly behind the man with the leash.

“What?” said the man, jumping and turning to glare at the agent who had surprised him.

“You just looked like you have lost your dog and if that was the case I thought I could call someone for you like animal control to help you locate your dog.”

“I’m good,” said the man, marching away without Tony noticing.

Phil watched the man leave the park without a dog while Clint helped Tony put on Hulk’s vest. As soon as the vest was on, Hulk calmed down and became the dog with a job. He walked next to Tony, who was holding the leash, while Clint and Phil walked on either side of them. 

“Where are we going to eat?” asked Tony.

“I thought we would go to a diner that our friend Steve likes,” said Clint.

“Who’s Steve?” 

“He’s our friend from work. He loves diner food and has tried every place in the city but the one we are going to is his favorite.”

“And Hulk can come in with us? Most places don’t want pets to go inside because they don’t like animals.”

“Hulk is a service dog, so it’s okay,” said Phil.

The diner wasn’t crowded and the owner was used to Phil and Clint with their dog, so when the men entered the owner pointed at their usual table. Tony sat on the edge, where he could look around the room with interest, taking in all the details. Phil ordered for them.

“Phil! Clint!”

Phil and Clint looked up and saw Steve and his friend Bucky making their way over.

“Hey,” said Clint. “Tony, this is Steve, who we told you about, and his friend Bucky. Steve, Bucky, this is our son Tony.”

“Hi Tony,” said Steve, crouching down to be eye level with the boy. “I’m Steve. I’ve heard so much about you. It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” said Tony, looking Steve over but shifting back slightly to be closer to Phil.

Phil placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder and felt the boy relax a bit.

“I didn’t realize you guys would be off work today,” said Clint, drawing Steve’s attention away from Tony.

“Finished early,” said Steve with a shrug. “We thought we’d come here to grab some lunch.”

“We’ll leave you all to it,” said Bucky, dragging his friend away from the new family. “Nice to see you.”

The rest of lunch was rather quiet. Then they headed home. In the apartment, Tony was more subdued, sitting quietly on the couch flipping aimlessly through a picture book about robots while Clint and Phil tried to work out what to do.

“You need to take a bath,” said Phil at last.

“No bath,” said Tony with a yawn. 

“Shower?” suggested Clint when it looked like Phil was going to push the issue.

“Showers are okay,” said Tony. 

“Do you need help?” asked Phil.

“I’m five,” said Tony, getting off the couch. “I can take care of myself.”

Phil wanted to protest, to argue that Tony was five, he needed someone to take care of him, but instead he let Tony go take his shower, the door remaining cracked open just in case. Because Tony was five, he needed someone to take care of him but the kid hadn’t had someone do that for him, so in his experience of course he could take care of himself. 

“I’ll take the nightmares tonight,” said Clint, stretching before reaching for a book. “We should just split it up, even and odd days. I’ll do even, you do odds.”

“Fine, but that means whoever’s not on nightmare duty has to make coffee and breakfast in the morning, in that order,” said Phil.

“You think of the best things.”

“We’ll make it work,” said Phil, kissing Clint before going to the bedroom to get his tablet and check his email, and they both knew it was true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lost my list of things to write!!!!! I'm so bummed.
> 
> Always,  
> Ari

**Author's Note:**

> I just really needed to write something happy because I've been super stressed.
> 
> Always,  
> Ari


End file.
